Bold Move, Cotton: Poker Vlogger Bets $600k w/ Ace-High Against Top Set
Ethan "Rampage" Yau was playing low-stakes poker games two years ago. On Sunday, during the $1 million game on Hustler Casino Live, the popular vlogger was busy attempting a $600,000 bluff with ace-high, but he was up against top set. Did the aggressive play work out? Let's find out!
Rampage was in the game for $1 million and about four hours into play, he was up to a bit over $1.1 million. That all changed when he entered a pot against "Handz," who is a regular in the HCL highest stakes games.
Greatest Poker Bluff Attempt of the Year?
Here's how the hand played out: It all started with Yau raising to $9,000 from the small blind with A?7? and then Handz surprisingly just making the call in the big blind with Q?Q?, as did "Pav" in the straddle with K?8?.
All three players caught a little something on the J?Q?10? flop, but only Handz had a made hand. After the blinds checked, Pav bet $15,000 on his open-ended straight draw. Rampage then went for a check-raise to $50,000, and only Handz made the call in position.
The turn was the 2?, which gave Rampage a flush draw. He led out for $175,000 and again was unable to convince his opponent to fold. When the 5? appeared on the river, the flush and straight draws missed. That meant the only way for Rampage to win the hand would be to bluff Handz off the pot, which wasn't going to be easy considering he was up against top set.
But Rampage could have conceivably had a hand like AxKx, good for a straight, which of course beats a set. The poker vlogger decided to continue representing such a hand and put Handz all in for $618,000, over-betting the $494,000 pot. At that point, it was clear to Handz that he was either up against the nuts or a bluff.
Would a poker player who was playing low-stakes games less than two years ago really have it in him to bet more than $600,000 with nothing? That was the question Handz had to consider as he pondered his move. Would he really fold top set with no potential flush on board? Let's take a look:
The answer was yes. It was arguably the greatest bluff in Hustler Casino Live history, and one of the top bluffs you'll see all year, or even for the next few years. Had Rampage lost the pot, his $1 million starting stack would have been down to under $300,000. For his investor's sake, it's a good thing it got through.
This wasn't the first huge bluff Rampage has pulled off on Hustler Casino Live. In January, he took down a $285,000 pot with a $120,000 wager with king-high on the river, forcing "J.R." off top pair.
Rampage Ready for the Biggest Poker Game of His Life
